TWENTY-FOUR years ago, a Labour government, in its first term in power after more than a decade in Opposition, led a global movement to cancel hundreds of millions of pounds of the debt of countries in the global South. It led to significant investment in health and education in the world’s poorest countries, improved the life chances of millions of people, and earned the UK numerous plaudits for leadership on the global stage.
Fast-forward to today: a Labour Party is back in power, and, once again, the UK can play a crucial part in tackling the scourge of international debt inflicted on the world’s poorest people. Unlike the debt lifted by the Jubilee 2000 campaign, this time, the burden consists of debt owed to wealthy private creditors. Much of this debt is governed by English law, however, which gives Sir Keir Starmer’s Government a unique opportunity — and responsibility — to lift millions out of poverty by the stroke of their legislative pen.
Jubilee 2000 was a remarkable achievement. Standing on the shoulders of decades of debt activism in the global South, it started with a handful of churchgoing social- justice warriors in Britain, and ended with the cancellation by the G7 of more than $100 million of the debt of 35 of the world’s poorest countries.
THE idea was articulated by Paul Vallely’s book Bad Samaritans: First World ethics and Third World debt (Orbis Books), published at the end of 1990. It was picked up by churches and youth groups; Archbishop Carey championed the cause — for example, by hosting a debate on debt-relief at the 1998 Lambeth Conference, attended by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and addressing a rally in Trafalgar Square in 1999. Archbishop Welby has described Jubilee 2000 as “perhaps the Churches’ finest hour in dethroning Mammon”.
The idea of Jubilee 2000 came from the biblical concept of jubilee: the forgiveness of debts every 50th year. We may only be halfway to the 50th year since Jubilee 2000, but already the world’s poor need serious debt-relief.
A recent report from Christian Aid, Between Life and Debt, found that 34 African countries spent more on debt repayments every year than they did on health and/or education (News, 24 May). Total external debt service by African countries alone to private creditors was $39 billion in 2023, and $47 billion in 2024. This is particularly insidious because private creditors charge an average interest rate of 6.2 per cent — much higher than other bodies.
Compounding the health, educational, and other challenges faced by these countries, many of them are having to deal with the consequences of a climate crisis that they have done nothing to cause. In fact, when it comes to debts, countries such the UK owe a “climate debt” to vulnerable communities around the world.
The UK is the world’s fifth largest historical polluter, and it is the emissions of rich nations such as ours which are driving a climate crisis that is inflicting suffering on some of the poorest people.
This year, an estimated 491,100 people have been affected by heavy rains and flooding in 63 localities across 15 states in Sudan. Thirty million people in Southern Africa have been threatened by drought this summer; the United Nations report that millions face severe hunger. Bangladesh is a world leader in climate adaptation, but its financial resources are in danger of being overwhelmed, leaving millions of its citizens vulnerable.
THE Government has an opportunity to bring genuine leadership to these twin crises. This starts with the UN’s Summit of the Future, which begins today in New York, and brings world leaders together to forge a new international consensus. The UK can lead efforts to ensure an ambitious agreement and show how the UK will deliver its fair share of the pot — not in loans that will heap more debt on to those who cannot afford it, but in grant-based funding.
The menace of private creditors who take advantage of poverty in developing countries and trap these nations into a cycle of high-interest rates must be tackled, too. As most of this debt falls under English and New York law, the government can introduce legislation to facilitate debt-relief for lower-income countries and unlock multilateral co-operation to tackle it more widely. This would come at no cost to the UK Government or to the taxpayer, but it would have a transformational impact for people lacking access to health and education, who face a climate crisis that they did little to cause.
A quarter of a century on from the historic achievement of Jubilee 2000, it falls to today’s Government once again to seize the opportunity to tackle poverty, break the chains of debt, and bring prosperity to the world’s poorest people. As happened in 2000, maybe the Church can mobilise its voice to give our political leaders an excuse to do the right thing.
Dr David Walker is the Bishop of Manchester.